JJ Redick Reflects on Best Duke Performance One Day Before Kobe Bryant Dropped 81 Points

JJ Redick was one of the best pure scorers in college basketball history. During his time at Duke, he shattered school scoring records and won National Player of the Year honors in the 2005–06 season. That same year featured two highlight 41-point performances, the second of which came just one day before Kobe Bryant made history.

Bryant, on January 22nd 2006, scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors. It was the second-most points ever scored in an NBA game (behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 point performance) and the most ever from a guard.

Those who watched the NBA at the time, all remember what exactly they were doing and where they were when Bryant lit the league on fire. Redick recently reflected on the same, and revealed his side of the weekend, which he spent on the road.

Redick was playing against the Georgetown Hoyas in an intense road matchup. He scored 41 points, nailed six three-pointers, and mixed in three assists and some steals. “We went into that game 17-0, and we were number one in the country,” Redick recalled to the Lakers media.

“We got our butts kicked for three quarters of that game. Then we made a run to cut it to one possession,” the Lakers head coach added. 

Despite tying his career-high in points, the rest of the Duke team struggled against Georgetown. That’s why Redick remembers being frustrated for a large portion of the contest. He wasn’t used to losing in college, going 116-23 in his entire career. 

That day, sadly, Duke and Redick didn’t have enough in the tank to complete the comeback. “We lost at the end; we didn’t get a shot off.”

Raptors are in town and Kobe dropped 81 points on them on a January Sunday in 2006

The day before, JJ Redick dropped a career-best 41 points in Duke’s first loss of that season

Asked JJ about that particular weekend in basketball history pic.twitter.com/jF4XfAE4Nj

— Law Murray (@LawMurrayTheNU) January 19, 2026

The final score was 87–84 in favor of Georgetown, but many remember it as Redick’s best game of his career regardless of the outcome. It came during a stretch in which he scored at least 22 points in 16 straight games.

The day after Redick’s scoring outburst, Bryant exploded for 81 points, coming the closest anyone ever has to Chamberlain’s record. Basketball fans were treated to all-time performances across both the college and NBA landscapes, making it a truly special moment in the sport.

In the end, Redick does not seem to associate his college career-high performance too closely with Kobe’s 81-point game. In fact, he prefers to forget it altogether, as Duke failed to secure the win and suffered its first loss of the season. It remains a bittersweet memory, one that highlights how deeply Redick hates losing. Personal achievements mean little to him. Winning is all that matters.